Bobbin storage clamp

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for securing and clamping thread to a bobbin is disclosed. The invention provides for a bobbin storage clamp having two clamp ends separated by a minimal distance but not in direct contact. The bobbin clamp includes two ears for separating the clamp ends when opposite lateral force is applied to the ears. The bobbin clamp and two ears comprise a single piece construction using minimal materials to create a cost efficient, lightweight, and easy to construct bobbin storage clamp.

BACKGROUND

The apparatus disclosed herein relate to a novel and easy to manufacture clamp for clamping thread on a bobbin used for sewing. More specifically, the bobbin storage clamp may be fabricated as a single piece with only a minimal amount of material necessary to fully secure a bobbin regardless of the amount of thread on the bobbin.

Prior art bobbin clamps such as that is in U.S. Design Pat. No. 623,847 were designed for securing multiple bobbins and relied on an unnecessary amount of material to construct.

Likewise, other existing bobbin clamps require excess amount of material to manufacture. For example, the Tulips Bobbin Clamp requires approximately three to four times more material and complexity to manufacture than that of the present invention. This additional material increases the cost of manufacturing as well as increasing the weight of each clamp. Likewise, other existing bobbin clamps such as the Smartneedle bobbin clamp also requires three to approximately three to four times more material and complexity to manufacture.

As such, prior art bobbin clamps due to the excessive material used for the construction are more expensive to manufacture, require more space to store and are more easily damaged due to their complexity.

These and other advantages of the present invention will be clarified in the description of the preferred embodiments taken together with the figures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An apparatus for clamping and securing thread to a bobbin is disclosed. The invention provides for a bobbin clamp having two clamp ends separated by a minimal distance but not in direct contact. The bobbin clamp includes two ears for separating the clamp ends when pressure is applied to the ears. The bobbin clamp and two ears comprise a single piece construction using minimal materials to create a cost efficient, lightweight, and easy to construct bobbin storage clamp.

Another aspect of the present invention is its simplicity and minimal amount of material needed for manufacturing. For example, for a bobbin of approximately 20 millimeters in overall diameter, a bobbin storage claim in accordance with the present invention only requires a clamp diameter approximately 12-15 millimeters. The overall length of the bobbin storage clamp, including the ears, would be approximately 15-18 millimeters. Additionally, the bobbin storage clamp can be constructed with a thickness of approximately 1 to 3 millimeters with a height that is 50% to 75% of the bobbin height while sufficiently clamping the thread of the bobbin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary bobbin storage clamp in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plane view of an exemplary bobbin storage clamp in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of an exemplary bobbin storage clamp in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an exemplary bobbin storage clamp in accordance with the invention

FIG. 5 is a perspective view an exemplary bobbin storage clamp used with a bobbin in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While the inventions disclosed herein are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of examples in the drawings and described in detail. It should be understood that the figures and detailed description discussed herein are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present inventions as defined by the appended claims. Although the invention is generally described with respect to a bobbin, the invention may be adapted for use on various types of thread spools to secure the thread wrapped around the spool Description will now be given of the invention with reference to FIGS. 1-5.

As shown generally in FIG. 1, the novel bobbin storage clamp 100 is constructed from a singular piece of material. This allows for lower cost and easier fabrication. Typically, the bobbin storage clamp 100 is constructed from a singular piece of semi-rigid plastic but may be constructed from any other semi-rigid material including silicon or rubber. The bobbin storage clamp 100 includes ears 120. Ears 120 are preferably constructed from the same singular piece of semi-rigid plastic as the body of the clamp and clamp ends 140. This singular fabrication ensures the durability of the ears 120 on bobbin storage clamp 100. The bobbin storage clamp 100 may include ornamental designs such as the circles seen on the ears 120 and on the clamp ends 140.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100 is preferably circular in nature. Turning to FIG. 5, the circular shape is intended to conform with the shape of a standard bobbin. Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, gap 130 is located between clamp ends 140. Gap 130 provide an opening which when extended allows fitting onto a bobbin. In an exemplary embodiment gap 130 is typically between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters when the bobbin storage clamp 100 is not in use. During fabrication, the size of gap 130 affects the clamping force of the bobbin storage clamp 100. For example, a smaller gap typically causes the bobbin storage clamp 100 to apply a stronger clamping force to a bobbin as the semi-rigid material attempts to return to its original shape.

Although the size of gap 130 may be described in distance measurements such as millimeters, gap 130 may alternatively be measured and described in angular degrees since the exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100 is circular in nature. As such, gap 130 may be typically described as between 1 and 15 degrees, in view of the entire exemplary circular bobbin storage clamp 100 consisting of 360 degrees.

Turning to FIG. 3, a view of an exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100 is shown. As seen in FIG. 3, ears 120 are preferably symmetrical and are the same in size and shape. When opposing lateral forces are applied on ears 120 (e.g. squeezing the ears together), the attached ears 120 effectively increases the size of the gap 130 thereby opening the clamp ends 140 to allow for attachment to a bobbin for securing thread. Once the opposing lateral forces have dissipated (e.g. the ears are no longer squeezed), the clamp ends 140 closes thereby reducing the size of gap 130. If there a bobbin clamped within the bobbin storage clamp 100, the clamp will collapse onto the bobbin to the extent possible applying pressure to secure the thread on the bobbin.

Turning to FIG. 4, a perspective of the size of gap 130 with respect to clamp ends 140 is shown. In an exemplary embodiment of the bobbin storage clamp 100, the gap 130 is of a small size relative to the circular circumference of the clamp. For example, for a bobbin storage clamp designed for a bobbin with a 20 millimeter outside diameter, gap 130 is typically between 1 to 3 millimeters when not in use. Gap 130 may be larger for a bobbin storage clamp 130 designed for a larger bobbin.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a bobbin storage clamp 100 securely clamped to a bobbin 200. As shown in FIG. 5, when a bobbin 200 is full with thread, the bobbin storage clamp 100 may only fasten onto a portion of the circumference of the bobbin with thread. However, bobbin storage clamp 100 is designed to collapse depending on the amount of thread on the bobbin to securely clamp the thread. For example, if bobbin 200 has only a minimal amount of thread, bobbin storage clamp 100 will fasten onto a larger portion of the circumference of the bobbin with thread.

The exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100 is preferably composed of a semi-rigid plastic. However, the bobbin storage clamp 100 may be fabricated from any material that is capable of maintaining rigidity while allow some flexibility in the material. For example, the bobbin storage clamp 100 may me composed of silicon, hard rubber, or other semi-rigid material.

More specifically, the amount of plastic or other semi-rigid material required to manufacture the exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100 improves significantly over prior bobbin clamps by requiring only a minimal amount of material. Prior art bobbin clamps use nearly 3 to 4 times the amount of material per clamp.

However, in the exemplary embodiment, for a small bobbin of 20 millimeters in diameter, a bobbin storage clamp 100 in accordance with the current invention will have a diameter of approximately only 12-15 millimeters. The overall length of such an exemplary bobbin storage clamp, including the ears, would be approximately 15-18 millimeters. Likewise, for bobbins larger in diameter, a proportional bobbin storage clamp 100, similar in material savings, in accordance with this invention could be used.

Because of the compact size of the exemplary bobbin storage clamp 100, the amount of material used to fabricate the bobbin storage clamp is far less than any existing bobbin storage clamp. For example, for a bobbin storage clamp adapted to fit a 20-millimeter diameter bobbin, a uniform thickness of only 1 to 3 millimeters, preferably 2 millimeters is necessary. On a prior art bobbin, without the advantages of the present invention, the thickness is not uniform, which leads to more difficult fabrication. The thickness may also be nearly 10 millimeters at certain points of the bobbin clamp in the prior.

In addition to the thickness advantages, to fit an exemplary 20-millimeter bobbin, the height of the bobbin storage clamp 100 would not need to be more than 50% to 75% of the height of the bobbin, (e.g. 4-5 millimeters.) This reduction in size and material necessary to manufacture compared to prior art bobbin clamps show the dramatic improvement of the present invention.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art that a number of changes, modifications, or alterations to the invention as described herein may be made, none of which depart from the spirit of the present invention. All such changes, modifications and alterations should therefore be seen as within the scope of the present invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for clamping a bobbin: a circular clamp having two front clamp ends; wherein the two front clamp ends are separated by a space between 5 and 15 degrees; two symmetrical ears attached to a rear portion of the circular clamp; wherein the symmetrical ears providing an opening force to the clamp ends when a lateral pressure is applied to the symmetrical ears.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the symmetrical ears comprise no more than 25 to 40 percent of the material required to manufacture the entire apparatus.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the circular clamp and symmetrical ears comprise from a single fabricated semi-flexible plastic.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the circular clamp and symmetrical ears comprise a single fabricated semi-flexible plastic.
 5. An apparatus for clamping a bobbin: a circular clamp having two front clamp ends; wherein the two front clamp ends are not in contact with each other are separated by a space between 1 to 5 millimeters; two ears attached to a rear portion of the circular clamp; wherein the ears providing an opening force to the clamp ends when a lateral pressure is applied to the symmetrical ears.
 6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the symmetrical ears comprise no more than 25 to 40 percent of the material required to manufacture the entire apparatus.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the circular clamp and symmetrical ears comprise from a single fabricated semi-flexible plastic.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the circular clamp and symmetrical ears comprise from a single fabricated semi-flexible plastic.
 9. An apparatus for clamping a bobbin: a circular clamp having two front clamp ends; wherein the two front clamp ends are separated by a space between 5 and 15 degrees and the width of the clamp ends are approximately 1 to 3 millimeters; two symmetrical ears attached to a rear portion of the circular clamp; wherein the symmetrical ears providing an opening force to the clamp ends when a lateral pressure is applied to the symmetrical ears.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the overall length of the apparatus is less than the overall length of the bobbin.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the height of circular clamp is approximately 50 to 75 percent of the height of the bobbin. 